There was a partly happy ending to a traumatic few hours for the family and friends of Ben Hollioake, the former Surrey and England cricketer who died at the age of 24 10 years ago, when some of his old cricket kit was found by police in Western Australia after it had been stolen from the family home in Perth.

News of the theft spread through Twitter after Hollioake's elder brother Adam had appealed for help, with another former England captain Michael Vaughan and the Lancastrians James Anderson and David Lloyd among many who responded.

Australian news sources reported that the police had executed a search warrant and found the kit, but Adam Hollioake then put out another tweet stating: "Guys WA Police have done a gr8 job & recovered half a bag of kit...still alot missing...including his playin shirts..."

The kit that originally went missing had included England and Surrey shirts, helmets, jumpers and training kit, plus at least five bats.